South Carolina basketball: Jermaine Couisnard returning to Columbia

South Carolina basketball gets assist leader back for ’21.

South Carolina got some great news earlier today with the announcement that forward Keyshawn Bryant would return for his senior season after declaring for the NBA Draft without hiring an agent. Now, the team has received word that one of Bryant’s teammates will join him in Columbia after testing the professional waters.

Point guard Jermaine Couisnard announced on Twitter that he’ll be back for a third season with the Gamecocks. The decision further bolsters a South Carolina backcourt, and gives the team one of its top offensive threats back for 2021.

https://twitter.com/The__Future11/status/1400177535569252353

Couisnard arrived in Columbia with the 2018 class, but he was unable to see the floor due to some academic holdups with the school’s admissions department. After a redshirt season, he became the Gamecocks’ starting point guard midway through the 2019 season. In his first career start, Couisnard drained a game-winning shot from half court as time expired to help South Carolina take down the Kentucky Wildcats. From then on, he’d stay in the lineup, earning All-SEC honors as a freshman.

As a third-year sophomore last season, Couisnard led the team in assists at 3.2 a game, while adding 10.1 points and 1.3 steals per contest. He took a step back in shooting accuracy, dropping from 39% to 30% this past season, and needs to work on being more aggressive, but he should immediately be the starter running the point next year. Couisnard joins a rotation that will include incoming transfer Chico Carter and four-star freshman Jacobi Wright.

With Wednesday’s announcements, the Gamecocks should have the talent to secure a postseason bid following a disappointing 6-15 campaign in 2020.